The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 16,529 Shares of Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 627,132 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,529 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.05% of Carnival Co. & worth $15,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 186.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,898,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,681,000 after acquiring an additional 6,444,444 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,095,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,918,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,458,329 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 18,097,001 shares of the company's stock worth $450,977,000 after buying an additional 2,720,096 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Carnival Co. & during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,486,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Carnival Co. & in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,636,000. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Carnival Co. & Stock Performance

CCL traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $20.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,728,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,076,146. The company's 50-day moving average is $19.24 and its 200-day moving average is $22.98. Carnival Co. & plc has a 52 week low of $13.78 and a 52 week high of $28.72. The firm has a market cap of $23.44 billion, a PE ratio of 14.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 21st. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.11. Carnival Co. & had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 24.13%. The company had revenue of $5.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.14) EPS. Carnival Co. &'s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CCL shares. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Macquarie decreased their price target on shares of Carnival Co. & from $31.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Mizuho raised their price objective on Carnival Co. & from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Tigress Financial reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Carnival Co. & in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Carnival Co. & from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.53.

Carnival Co. & Profile

Carnival Corp. engages in the operation of cruise ships. It operates through the following business segments: North America and Australia (NAA) Cruise, Europe and Asia (EA) Cruise Operations, Cruise Support, and Tour and Others. The North America and Australia (NAA) Cruise segment includes the Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn.